Gases that are compressed in a compressor chamber of a compressor unit typically contain moisture, such as, for example, water, that is in a liquid state. As described by physical gas laws, the temperature of a gas, such as air, typically increases as the gas is compressed. Such increases in gas temperature may cause the liquid moisture that is in the gas to change to a vapor state. After being released from a compression chamber of the compressor unit, compressed gas, and the water vapor contained therein, is often delivered to an after-cooler. As the temperatures of the compressed gas and water vapor are cooled in the after-cooler, the previously vaporized water vapor may revert back to a liquid state. Thus, at least certain types of compressor units may include a moisture separator that is positioned downstream of the after-cooler that is configured to remove liquid moisture from cooled, compressed gases.
Moisture separators often utilize swirl vanes to generate centrifugal forces that separate liquid moisture from compressed gas. Such moisture separators are often separate tubular structures that require both inlet piping for the delivery of un-dried compressed gas to the moisture separator, and outlet piping for the flow of dried compressed gas away from the moisture separator. Yet, the separate structure of the moisture separator and the requisite inlet and outlet tubing typically precludes moisture separators from being incorporated into other components of the compressor system.
Additionally, such cyclone style moisture separators typically need to be located at an elevation that is above that of the compression chamber. Yet, such elevated positioning of the moisture separator may result, when the compressor unit is not being operated, in liquid moisture that is trapped at least in the inlet piping of the separator flowing back toward, and possibly into, the compression chamber, which may adversely impact subsequent operation and/or performance of the compression chamber. Additionally, an additional support structure may be needed to attain the requisite elevated positioning of the moisture separator, which may both add to the cost and raise the center of gravity of the compressor unit.